pen·du·lum

(pĕn′jə-ləm, pĕn′dyə-, pĕn′də-)

1. A body suspended from a fixed support so that it swings freely back and forth under the influence of gravity, commonly used to regulate various devices, especially clocks. Also called simple pendulum.

2. Something that swings back and forth from one course, opinion, or condition to another: the pendulum of public opinion.

[New Latin, probably from Italian pendolo, pendulous, pendulum, from Latin pendulus, hanging; see pendulous.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pendulum

(ˈpɛndjʊləm)

1. (General Physics) a body mounted so that it can swing freely under the influence of gravity. It is either a bob hung on a light thread (simple pendulum) or a more complex structure (compound pendulum)

2. (Horology) such a device used to regulate a clockwork mechanism

3. something that changes its position, attitude, etc fairly regularly: the pendulum of public opinion.

[C17: from Latin pendulus pendulous]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pen•du•lum

(ˈpɛn dʒə ləm, ˈpɛn dyə-, -də-)

n.

1. a body so suspended from a fixed point as to move to and fro by the action of gravity and acquired momentum.

2. a swinging lever, weighted at the lower end, for regulating the speed of a clock mechanism.

[1650–60; < New Latin, n. use of neuter of Latin pendulus pendulous]

pen′du•lum•like`, adj.

pen·du·lum

(pĕn′jə-ləm)

A mass hung from a fixed support so that it is able to swing freely under the influence of gravity. Pendulums are often used to regulate the action of various devices, especially clocks.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pendulum

A suspended weight swinging regularly under gravity’s influence.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

pendulum - an apparatus consisting of an object mounted so that it swings freely under the influence of gravity

apparatus, setup - equipment designed to serve a specific function

bob - a hanging weight, especially a metal ball on a string

Foucault pendulum - pendulum with a long wire; can swing in any direction; the change in the swing plane demonstrates the earth's rotation

metronome - clicking pendulum indicates the exact tempo of a piece of music

compound pendulum, physical pendulum - pendulum consisting of an actual object allowed to rotate freely around a horizontal axis

simple pendulum - a hypothetical pendulum suspended by a weightless frictionless thread of constant length

Translations

بَنْدول، رَقّاص الساعَه

kyvadlo

pendul

Pendel Perpendikel

εκκρεμές πέντολο

heiluri

balancier pendule

inga

pendúll

pendolo pendulo

su švytuoklešvytuoklė

svārsta-svārsts

pendel

kyvadlokyvadlový

pendel

sarkaç

摆锤钟摆

pendulum

[ˈpendjʊləm] N → péndulo m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

pendulum

[ˈpɛndjʊləm] n [clock] → balancier m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

pendulum

n → Pendel nt; the pendulum has swung back in the opposite direction (lit, fig) → das Pendel ist in die entgegengesetzte Richtung ausgeschlagen; the pendulum has swung back in favour (Brit) or favor (US) of or toward(s) … (fig) → die Tendenz geht wieder in Richtung (+gen) → …; the swing of the pendulum (fig) → die Tendenzwende

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

pendulum

[ˈpɛndjʊləm] n → pendolo

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

pendulum

(ˈpendjuləm) , ((American) -dʒu-) noun

a swinging weight, eg that which operates the mechanism of a clock. The little girl watched the pendulum swing back and forwards; (also adjective) a pendulum clock.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

In it hangs the lamp whose measured swing suggested to Galileo the pendulum. It looked an insignificant thing to have conferred upon the world of science and mechanics such a mighty extension of their dominions as it has.

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It was the painted figure of Time as he is commonly represented, save that, in lieu of a scythe, he held what, at a casual glance, I supposed to be the pictured image of a huge pendulum such as we see on antique clocks.

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The pendulum beat the seconds, which each player eagerly counted, as he listened, with mathematical regularity.

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It was quite impossible to walk about, so I stood near the engines where it was warm, and amused myself with watching the pendulum, which was fixed opposite to me, swinging slowly backwards and forwards as the vessel rolled, and marking the angle she touched at each lurch.

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"He measures time quite as accurately as a pendulum!"

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The rhythmical and, if I may so say, well-modulated undulation of the back in our ladies of Circular rank is envied and imitated by the wife of a common Equilateral, who can achieve nothing beyond a mere monotonous swing, like the ticking of a pendulum; and the regular tick of the Equilateral is no less admired and copied by the wife of the progressive and aspiring Isosceles, in the females of whose family no "back-motion" of any kind has become as yet a necessity of life.

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All the little duties were faithfully done each day, and many of her sisters' also, for they were forgetful, and the house seemed like a clock whose pendulum was gone a-visiting.

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No resolution could withstand it; in that dreamy mood losing all consciousness, at last my soul went out of my body; though my body still continued to sway as a pendulum will, long after the power which first moved it is withdrawn.

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Satisfied by his scrutiny, my light limbed companion swung himself nimbly upon it, and twisting his legs round it in sailor fashion, slipped down eight or ten feet, where his weight gave it a motion not un-like that of a pendulum. He could not venture to descend any further; so holding on with one hand, he with the other shook one by one all the slender roots around him, and at last, finding one which he thought trustworthy, shifted him self to it and continued his downward progress.

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Its pendulum swung to and fro with a dull, heavy, monotonous clang; and when the minute-hand made the circuit of the face, and the hour was to be stricken, there came from the brazen lungs of the clock a sound which was clear and loud and deep and exceedingly musical, but of so peculiar a note and emphasis that, at each lapse of an hour, the musicians of the orchestra were constrained to pause, momentarily, in their performance, to harken to the sound; and thus the waltzers perforce ceased their evolutions; and there was a brief disconcert of the whole gay company; and, while the chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grew pale, and the more aged and sedate passed their hands over their brows as if in confused revery or meditation.

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Encompassed in a luminous cloud, of which he was now merely the fiery heart, without material substance, he swung through unthinkable arcs of oscillation, like a vast pendulum. Then all at once, with terrible suddenness, the light about him shot upward with the noise of a loud splash; a frightful roaring was in his ears, and all was cold and dark.

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It was the swing of the pendulum, Ruth, the eternal law which mocks our craving for content.

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